“Enough, no need for further words. I have my own judgment!”
Ethan Chen cut off Oliver Chen’s words with a decisive tone.
He was well aware of the enormous risks behind this idea, but he still wanted to take the gamble, simply because he couldn’t bear to see the clan that the Elder Ancestor had built with great difficulty fall apart on his watch.
The revitalized Sacred Tree behind him was the source of Ethan’s confidence.
Seeing the unshaken gaze of the Clan Chief, the two men refrained from arguing further. They could tell that the Clan Chief had other plans, but they couldn’t fathom Ethan’s thoughts at the moment.
As they observed more closely, they also noticed that the Clan Chief seemed to be in a better mental state than before, which puzzled them even more.
“Have all the injured from the clan been brought here?”
At that moment, Ethan turned to the messenger and asked.
“All of them are here! There are a total of fifteen people who have been injured recently due to the battle with the Li Clan.”
As the words fell, a group of injured, wrapped in white bandages, stepped forward.
Among these people, some leaned on crutches, some had their foreheads bandaged, and others lay on stretchers!
The man at the front, in his forties, had one arm roughly bandaged. This was Mason Chen, one of the four Blood Condensation Realm Warriors of the Chen Clan.
However, his arm was injured in an attack by the Li Clan two days ago. Although it didn’t hinder his movement, he could now only exert half of his strength.
“Clan Chief!”
Mason greeted with a nod.
“Mm, all of you follow me inside! The rest wait outside, no one is to enter the Ancestral Hall for now!”
Halfway through, Ethan looked back and said:
“Elijah, Oliver, you two come in as well.”
Hearing Ethan’s command, the rest of the clan members showed puzzled expressions, not understanding the Clan Chief’s intentions.
Oliver Chen and Elijah Chen were also confused, but they didn’t refuse and walked into the Ancestral Hall together.
The remaining clan members could only wait outside, watching as the doors of the Ancestral Hall slowly closed.
“Hey, Alexander!”
From the crowd, Lucas Chen, standing at the back, called out to Alexander Chen.
Alexander turned with a puzzled look:
“Lucas, what’s up?”
“Don’t you want to see what the Clan Chief is doing inside the Ancestral Hall?”
Alexander’s eyes widened slightly, grasping Lucas’s intent, but then he quickly shook his head:
“No, the Clan Chief just gave an order, and our fathers are right there. Do you want to be punished?”
“We’ll go through that secret passage we found last time, just peek over the wall, the Clan Chief won’t notice!”
This left Alexander in a dilemma:
“Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”
Seeing his hesitation, Lucas spoke again:
“Don’t you want to save our clan?”
“What does that have to do with saving the clan?”
Alexander was clueless, but he slowly started moving his feet.
The two of them quietly slipped away from the back of the crowd, sneaking towards the other side of the Ancestral Hall.
Inside the Ancestral Hall, when everyone saw Ethan approaching the Sacred Tree in the corner, their expressions were filled with doubt.
Oliver frowned slightly, also unclear about the Clan Chief’s intentions, merely observing the Sacred Tree in the corner of the Ancestral Hall with a hint of disdain in his eyes, while contemplating the importance of the clan’s secret passage.
Amidst the puzzled gazes, Ethan strode towards the Sacred Tree and slowly addressed Noah Ji:
“Sacred Tree, these are the injured of our clan. I beseech you to show your brilliance!”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s faces revealed shock, and their eyes showed disbelief.
What was their Clan Chief doing?
Was he asking the Sacred Tree to heal their wounds?
Had the Clan Chief lost his mind?
Although they had heard that the Sacred Tree had sprouted, they didn’t believe that the tree could heal them, especially since some of them had severe injuries that even the clan’s physician said couldn’t be healed quickly.
However, these thoughts were kept to themselves, not daring to voice them out loud.
Mason Chen at the front didn’t hide his feelings and quickly stepped forward, whispering to the praying Ethan:
“Clan Chief, have you not been resting well lately? Maybe you should rest for a while!”
He had heard that Ethan hadn’t rested for several days due to recent clan matters. Even though he was a Blood Condensation Realm Warrior, it wasn’t sensible to go on like this, otherwise, why would he be speaking such nonsense now?
As a junior of the clan, he felt it was his duty to advise the Clan Chief. If the Clan Chief had lost his mind, then the clan was truly hopeless.
Ethan looked at Mason’s concerned face with a wry smile.
Before witnessing the brilliance of the Sacred Tree, he too thought he was going mad. However, after experiencing it firsthand yesterday, he knew of the Sacred Tree’s current capabilities, more than enough to heal everyone’s injuries.
Ethan didn’t explain much, simply gesturing for the injured clan members to sit under the Sacred Tree.
Explaining now was superfluous; they would understand once they experienced it themselves!
Seeing the Clan Chief’s serious demeanor, Mason also walked towards the Sacred Tree with half-belief, half-doubt, while the others, though without objection, curiously watched the Sacred Tree.
Noah Ji looked down at the ten or so people below, silently estimating the Vitality he would need to expend, which was probably not insignificant, especially for the one carried in on a stretcher, whose injuries seemed quite severe.
But at this point, Noah had little choice.
Before this, Ethan had laid out his plan to him, hoping to use Noah’s brilliance to heal the injured members of the Chen Clan and then send some clan members through the secret passage to hunt deep in Disordered Burial Mountain.
The spoils of the hunt would serve to sustain the survival of many in the clan and also be used for sacrifices.
As for the sacrifices, Noah was more than eager.
The more offerings, the faster his Qi and Blood and Spiritual Power would accumulate, allowing him to perform the next Deduction and strengthen himself.
Vitality was important, but what he had was already sufficient to maintain his growth, and with the Lunar Eclipse Technique at his disposal, there was no immediate concern.
Noah had also witnessed the scene outside the Ancestral Hall.
The secret passage was the Chen Clan’s last resort. Now that Ethan, the Clan Chief, had personally spoken, it was clear that he was staking all his bets on Noah.
With the Chen Clan in dire straits, if they didn’t resort to this method, Noah didn’t know how they would face the Li Clan’s attacks in the coming days.
At the same time, Noah was secretly relieved that this Clan Chief was not some obstinate elder and had not chosen to give up on the clan, otherwise, he would indeed be doomed to perish here!
So, when Ethan made his request, Noah saw no reason to refuse.
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